Deception x 2
by Tatsurou-san
Summary: A little what if story. What if the events of Season three had happened slightly differently?
1. Editor of TIme

1. Editor of Time

There is a room, somewhere in reality. The room is filled with clocks of various shapes and sizes, all ticking away at a slightly different rate from any other, giving the overall impression of counting Time itself.

The room also has various screens, pools, crystal balls, and other devices used for viewing. Each has a different image flashing across it, displaying something out of one world or another.

Standing in the center of this room, watching the images and listening to the clocks, is a man. He is neither old nor young, thin nor fat, wise or foolish. His exact aspect is uncertain, but he is dressed in a plain gray suit with top hat, and is leaning on a cane capped with a stylized hourglass.

He turns to gaze right at you. "AH," he says, smiling. "Visitors, viewers...readers. How quaint." He shakes his head and spreads his arms. "Welcome."

"I am sure many of you have written a story or two...in one form or another. SOme of you may even have written something that was...published. If so, you will know of that which I am about to speak.

"Somewhere along the line of publication is someone whose job is to pick and prod at your work, and ask stupid questions like, 'Wouldn't it be better if you did it like this?' THey suggest these tiny, miniscule changes, or even major ones, without thought to the consequence to the story as a whole, generally. After all, even the tiniest change to the weave of a story can have drastic reprecussions to the overall flow.

"Of course, some of these people consider this, and try to take it into account. These people, though, who pick and prod at your story, are called Editors. I am one such being. But I do not edit published works. No.

"I edit timelines. I am the Editor of TIme."

The Editor of TIme turns and points to one screen, and it widens. "I am sure you are familiar with this scene. Shall we see what can happen if - taking into account implication and deeper motives - we make the smallest conceivable change? YOu want to see, don't you."

Jinx looked at Cyborg sadly as the Hive Academy collapsed around them. "You could have been one of us," she said, her voice tinged with regret and longing.

"I could have been a lot of things," Cyborg said sadly.

Shaking her head, Jinx hopped onto the disk as Brother Blood evacuated along with Mammoth and Gizmo.

No one saw, as she looked through the falling smoke and debris, a slight smile breifly flash across her face.

The Editor of TIme turns back to you. "See? A very slight change there...but what will it lead to? What will come of it?

He smiles. "Feel free to stay and watch. I know I will." He turns to the screen, as time flows onward. 


	2. New Wavelength

2. New Wavelength

Cyborg crawled through the ducts of Brother Blood's underwater base. "Spiky headed know it all...It's my blueprints, my bad guy, and my-" The duct opened and dumped Cyborg into a wide open area.

Brother Blood's face appeared on a large screen. "Cyborg. So nice of you to drop in."

Someone stepped up behind Cyborg, and he turned as Brother Blood continued. "Say, you remember Jinx, don't you? You were my two top students at Hive Academy." Jinx approached Cyborg, smiling. "But of course, JINX WASN'T A SPY!"

Jinx leaped to the attack, striking with her energy blasts. Cyborg managed to dodge several blasts, but then Jinx caught him by surprise when she spun her hand in a circle and released a concussive shockwave of her magic, impacting not unlike his own sonic cannon.

"Whoa...where did you learn that?" he shouted in shock.

"I learned a lot from you, Cyborg...before you betrayed us...betrayed me!" She suddenly leapt into the air, spinning on her side. Wheels of cutting pink light launched from her body, and CYborg dodged and stared as they sheered effortlessly through anything they encountered before dissipating.

The battle continued, Cyborg desperately trying to fight Jinx off, but he was quickly getting his ass kicked. Then he got another shock as one sweep of Jinx' arm cut through several boxes a good distance from her. "Woah! You've got an invisible sword or something?"

"I had a lot of tricks I never showed you. After all, why would I show anything to a TRAITOR!" She blasted him again, knocking him back. "DO you have any idea what your betrayel did to me? Do you know what it's like to picture a future with someone, then watch them betray everything you stand for and hold dear?" A massive concussive blast sent him slamming into the screen shutting it down. He started to get up, but found Jinx in his face, her magic glowing around her hand at his throat.

"Didn't think so," she said with a smile, before backing up. "But then, neither do I."

Cyborg stared at her, confused. "Huh?"

She shook her head. "Aqualad told you there was an agent on the inside, right?" She smirked at him. "YOu're a little slow on the uptake, Stone."

"SAY WHAT?"

"Did you really think you were the only spy at Hive Academy? I've been undercover there for years!"

Cyborg glared at her. "And Blood couldn't brainwash you because?"

She tapped her forehead. "Mind control effects can't effect a partitioned mind. Come on, let's shut down that sonic resonator." She turned and headed inward.

"Sorry, Jinx, but I need more details." Cyborg stood in her path. "What the hell is a partitioned mind?"

She sighed. "Blood couldn't control you because your cybernetic mind wasn't fooled by what he showed you. THus, you were somewhat protected. A partitioned mind works much the same way. YOu take the essence of who you are - the core of your mind, everything you want to preserve - and lock it away deep inside of you, where it can't be touched. Then..." she shuddered.

"Then...?"

"You sacrifice the rest of you to whatever they're going to do to you. It's a great way to protect yourself from being broken, be it through torture, brainwashing, or straight mind control. Unfortunately..." she shuddered again. "It leaves you completely helpless to stop yourself from being used against your will. It was necessarry to infiltrate for Blood to believe he had me completely under his control, but..." She shook her head. "Never mind. Let's get a move on, before the city ceases to exist."

CYborg nodded. He wasn't going to press further, not with what he could interpret on his own. He suddenly found himself with an all new reason to hate Blood.

Blood smashed his viewscreen. "Well, Cyborg, it seems you've destroyed my little 'friend'," he said, giving a peculiar emphasis to the word 'friend'. "I guess I'll just have to destroy all of yours."

Cyborg and Jinx walked along the corridors, heading for the sonic resonator. When they reached the intersection, they both ran though their independent calculations, and tried to lead in seperate directions.

Cyborg looked down at Jinx after bunmping into her. "The resonator core is this way. I'm the one with the high tech sensors, remember?"

"And I helped build this place," Jinx said.

"You must be so proud," Cyborg said, and was caught off guard by a slap to the face.

"That was uncalled for. I've been tracking Blood and his ilk before you even knew who he was. THat means I call the shots here, got it?"

"NO!" Cyborg, although apologetic about his comment, was vehement in his stance. "Because it's my tech, my mission, and without me, you wouldn't have a clue how to shut this thing down." He turned down the corridor heading to the resonator.

Jinx smiled as he walked down. "Actually, I'd just boost the wavelength in the transmission matrix triggering a meltdown in the amplification system."

Cyborg froze, then hung his head. "I never told anyone about that glitch. How did you-"

Jinx walked forward, holding a disk. "I pulled your blueprints off the Hive mainframe. Blood can never use em again. Wasn't that nice of me?"

"Gimme that!" Cyborg shouted, snatching for it, but Jinx pulled it back.

"No way! If you fail against Blood, I might need this to shut down the resonator."

"Please," Cyborg begged. "They're not just plans, they're me. Everything I am. My body, my brain, my feelings!"

"...I know," Jinx said sadly. "I wouldn't invade your mind uninvited. I know how painful that is." They walked down the hallway a ways. At a doorway, she asked, "Would I have really been worth it?"

Stepping through the doorway, Cyborg turned towards her. "Huh?"

"...never mind," she said, hexing the controls, causing the door to slam shut between them. Cyborg continued on his way.

As Cyborg was slowly being torn apart internally by Brother Blood, pink light suddenly slammed into the villain, sending him flipping towards the resonator. Jinx landed out of a cloud of warped light, and offered Cyborg a hand up. Then they made their plan.

Blood stood up. "Another spy? Tell me, was anyone at my school actually there to learn?"

"I learned all I'd care to from you," Jinx said, taking a combat stance. "Now it's my turn to teach you."

Jinx leapt to battle against Blood, making pink platforms from her feet and hands in midair to gain an aerial advantage.

Cyborg caused the resonator to overload. Blood shouted out, "NO!" before Jinx kicked him off the platform. The Titans all made it out safely.

Jinx announced back at the Tower that she'd be going to help Aqualad track down Brother Blood.

As everyone headed out, Cyborg stopped Jinx. "Jinx, what you asked me down there...what did you mean?"

Jinx averted her gaze. "When I swiped this," she handed him the disk with his blueprints, "I saw a few things I shouldn't have...like what you remembered of the dance."

Cyborg paused, realizing what she was talking about.

"You...you were thinking about turning your back on the Titans...on being a hero...just to be with me..."

Cyborg nodded. "YOu were asking...if I really thought you'd have been worth that?"

She nodded. He opened his mouth to answer, and she put her finger to his lips.

"No. DOn't tell me now. I'm not sure I want to know." With that, she turned and left. 


	3. Titans East The Question

3. Titans East - The Question

Cyborg arrived at the Titans East tower, rather excited to see Jinx again. He wondered what sort of team she had put together. Then he saw the state of the inside of the tower, but he wasn't...too discouraged.

Upstairs, Speedy, Aqualad, Mas & Menos were having the ruckus over the 'fish tacos' when Jinx came down the steps. "Okay, the security grid's up on level 4 and-" She noticed everyone seemingly just lazing about. Her temper hit a fast boil. "Get off your lazy butts and get back to work!"

Speedy glared at her. "Who died and made you q-" he flipped backward when her hexbolt hit him.

"I'm the one who can kick all your asses blindfolded! THat's why I'm in charge!"

Cyborg smirked as he came in to see this. "Ain't that a sight!"

Everyone turned. "Hey tin man!" Jinx called out, waving, before getting back to work.

Aqualad came over to introduce everyone, and then they got to work building the tower.

Unfortunately, a distinct lack of coordination led to a disaster, as Jinx and the others were shouting at each other, blaming the disaster on one another, until Cyborg shouted out, "ENOUGH!" Calming down, he looked at them all. "The problem isn't your tower, it's your team." About to say more, the alarm went off on his arm. "Trouble."

Jinx rolled her eyes. "At least something around here works."

The battle with steamroller went badly, as only Jinx and Cyborg were attempting to coordinate. The others kept fighting as though they were still solo heroes.

After Mas & Menos' lecture, that no one understood, Jinx spoke up. "Looks like you were right, tin man. We ain't a team."

Glancing at where Steamroller was getting up, cyborg addressed everyone. "We are now. Follow my lead. Jinx, Omega manuever. Speedy, push him back."

Speedy fired several punching glove arrows, and Jinx threw her hexbolts at the arrows, altering the kinetic energy behind them to send Steamrolloer falling a good way backward.

The rest of the plan, at Cyborg's direction, went off without a hitch. They cheered their success.

Back at the Tower, the assembly of the system continued much more effectively. Before long, everything was finished. As they all started to celebrate, Cyborg got the call from Robin.

As Cyborg began to leave, though, the others told him about their vote...to have him as leader.

Jinx smiled at him. "You've got the skills, tin man, and let's face it. We still really don't know what we're doing as a team. We need you here." Her eyes had a different message, though, and he saw it.

"Well, I-" the door closed. "What the?" He checked his arm. "Security's down. Must be a glitch in the security keys."

Jinx spun as the Hive soldier passed through the shadows. "It's no glitch, tin man. We're under attack."

After discovering the attackers were copy Cyborg's they headed for Ops, but split up when they all thought it was different directions.

Jinx rode a hexbolt through the air, heading along her path, but was overwhelmed by sheer force of numbers. ALthough she was able to take out a great many of them, her mystical reserves began to exhaust, and the copy Cyborg's just kept coming.

Meanwhile, Cyborg's battle with Brother Blood ended with the resetting of the security system. Then he shut down as his power cell ran out of juice.

After coming to and making his decision to stay on as leader of Titans East, Cyborg started to head to his room, but stopped as he passed Jinx. "Hey...you know that question you asked me when last we met? I have an answer, if you want to know."

Jinx smiled. "You can tell me later."

Brother Blood observed from his point of perspective. "Question? THat seems significant...but I can find nothing on it in Jinx' mind. Strange...I will have to investigate further..." 


	4. Titans East The Answer

4. Titans East - The Answer

"You're sure I can't change your mind?" Robin asked Cyborg.

"No, man. I'm staying in Steel City as leader of Titans East. That's it, end of discussion." Cyborg continued to work on the equipment while he talked.

"COuld you at least tell me why? I'm losing a member of my team here, and it's not like I can read your thoughts."

"They need me. And this is my big chance. I'm ready to show people what I can do. I'm ready to grow up, to be a man."

"And what about Brother Blood?"

"What about him?"

"I know how badly you want to catch him, and I know a thing or two about being obsessed with your target. Look, I jsut worry about what-"

"Stop." Cyborg stopped Robin's speech in the middle. He sighed. "It's Jinx."

"YOu're not telling me this is all about your crush on her, is it?"

"It's no more a crush than your feelings for Starfire are!" Cyborg snapped, slamming his fist down on the table. "Besides, that's not what I'm talking about!"

Robin was quiet for a while. "Explain it to me then, please."

Cyborg sighed. "Yes, I want to take down Brother Blood. Yes, it's become personal. But it doesn't have anything to do with what he did to me, anymore. It's about what he's done to her."

Robin stared in shock. "Cyborg...you're not going to go too far...are you?"

"I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure he never hurts her again...and you're not going to stop me." Cyborg walked over and cut off the communication.

Brother Blood listened to what was reported to him. "How interesting. It seems the Tin Man has a heart after all...and it belongs to my little 'friend.' How delightful." He chuckled. "How easily this will be turned against him."

When the charade was discarded once Blood was ready to enact his plan, Cyborg was easily taken down. Blood was clever about it, simply having Jinx come up behind him and hex him into unconciousness.

When Cyborg awoke and saw Brother Blood's plan, he became infuriated. "What's my tech doing in your head?"

But then Blood talked about 'upgrading' his students, gently caressing Jinx' chin as he spoke, and Cyborg snapped.

"You keep your grubby mitts off of her!" Cyborg struggled, and the bonds started to snap. He leaped off the table and belted Blood in the jaw. Right at that point, the other Titans showed up to assist. Blood warped away with the Titans East, sealing Cyborg and the others up in the Ops center.

Roaring, Cyborg smashed his fist against the table, smashing it to pieces. "He's going to pay."

Robin came up. "Easy, Cyborg. Let us help you."

"...Alright. Let's go."

As they began to head out, Cyborg looked straight at Raven, focusing on a specific thought. She picked it up, and her eyes widened. He stared at her a while longer, and she nodded sadly.

Blood began his bragging about his plan, about what he was going to do to the Titans East, then felt Jinx starting to regain control. He turned to focus his attention on her, and felt her withdraw from him. Focusing his attention on her, he smiled.

"Ah...a partitioned mind! I wonder who taught you how to do that. Explains so much, but...you don't dare risk lowering the partition when my attention is on you, or it will give me access to the core of your mind, and you will be unable to fight back at all. With my amplified powers, I could break through eventually...but I'd much rather see if I can make you let it down on your own." He grinned, stroking her cheek and enjoying her shiver. "Jinx...I'm going to upgrade you first...without anasthetic. After all, I need to see how well the nervous system can handle the extremes this technology incorporates."

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Cyborg shouted, slamming bodily into Blood and knocking him back.

Blood sicked the Titans East on the other Titans, warping away. After a fierce battle, the Titans were seemingly victorious, until Blood warped Cyborg out of the Tower.

Brother Blood thought he would have the advantage here...but something was different about the way Cyborg fought. Always before when he fought, he guarded his weak points, and fought in a predictable pattern. It was the style of a warrior, of a hero. This time, however...he didn't seem to care if he got hit, and his power output was off the scale. At one point, Blood severed one of Cyborg's arms...but he just grabbed it and shoved it up to the break, and it reattatched itself.

"How are you generating such power for this fight? How do you resist me so?" Blood was furious.

Cyborg smirked. "THe only loyalty you can know is that which you steal from others...you could never understand what drives me today."

The fight continued. Blood severed limbs several times, but Cyborg just reattatched each one the same way. His temperature was rising, and each contact now felt like molten steel to Blood. He decide to change tactics. "Now please, Cyborg, you should be more careful." The other Titans appeared floating in the air. "YOu might hurt your classmates."

Cyborg stared at him for a time...then grinned. Both hands shifted, his sonic cannon exposing a strange filter, and his other arm turning into a strange device. Pointing his cannon upward, a strange wave form was emitted, and Blood clutched his head.

The other Titans fell to the ground, and Cyborg charged forward. "Hard to use your mind powers when your circuitry has a short, isn't it?" Grabbing blood, he caught him in a strangle hold. The strange device on his arm extended a point. "You will never mess with her mind - OR her body - ever again! DO IT, RAVEN!" He slammed the point into Blood's cybernetic chest, and the device started to spin and whine.

Raven held out her hands. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Shadows began to wrap around Cyborg and Brother Blood.

Cyborg locked eyes with Jinx. "Jinx...the answer was yes." They both vanished.

"Cyborg!" Jinx shouted, struggling to the spot he dissapeared from. SHe turned on Raven. "What did you do?"

"It was a fail-safe he added to his system. He told me - if he ever activated it - I was to warp him as far away from the rest of us as possible...and that he might use it to stop Blood."

"But what did it-" Jinx' voice fell silent as everyone looked up.

A huge blue and white explosion filled the sky, visible despite how far out in the solar system it was. It expanded in corruscating light, before slowly subsiding.

Raven stared up. "It must have...caught both their power cores..."

Jinx stared up into the night sky...and screamed.

"CYBORG!"  



	5. Time Passes

5. Time Passes

It had been two weeks since the explosion. Deserate search, both physical and mystical, had turned up no trace. Regretfully, what everyone knew would be the case was declared true. Victor Stone, the Teen Titan Cyborg, was declared dead.

The Teen Titans in Jump City managed to hold together, barely. Starfire spent a great deal of time crying for her lost friend, but with Robin's help she was able to keep going. Raven, surprisingly enough, was the one to comfort Beast Boy, and to be comforted by him. The team fought all the harder, Cyborg's death becoming a warning, a watchword, and example.

Titans East had begun to fall apart. Without certain leadership, the team tended to handle things solo as necessarry. Thankfully, during these two weeks, villain activity was low. THere was only one significant - if frightening - incident of villain activity.

One week before...

Titans East went out as a group in answer to an alarm. It turned out to be a few Hive students robbing a mall - Gizmo, Kid Wykkid, the Hive Knight, and Bobby Numerous. At first Titans East was unable to coordinate, and was getting their asses handed to them. THen Gizmo made a mistake that was almost fatal.

"Hey Jinx! Where's your tin man? Heard you had a kind of...explosive relationship!" He began to snicker.

Jinx' eyes glowed. Pink hex waves appeared suddenly throughout Gizmo's tech pack, shattering it to pieces. Then they appeared in waves acroos his body as she walked slowly towards him, going from his extremities inward, each flash accompanied by a sickening snap as every bone in his body was broken one at a time. As he collapsed in agony, she caught him by his shirt collar and held him up to her face.

She was already a mess. She hadn't been taking care of herself. Her hair hung down around her head, a scraggly mess since she hadn't bothered to clean or care for it for a week. Without any make up - or cleaning - her face seemed paler than ever beneath smudges of dirt and tear streaks. Overall, she had gone from looking like a pixie to looking like a ghost.

"Did you say something?" she asked flatly. When he couldn't answer, she dropped him. "Didn't think so."

At this point, the other villains had fled, some of them screaming in fear.

At this point in time, Gizmo was still in ICU. No charges had been leveled against Jinx, as the incident had led to villain activity in Steel City being near zero. However, rumor had it it was going to be building up soon.

Jinx came down into the main room, looking like she'd managed to clean herself up some. Her hair hung straight down her back, and although hair and face were clean, she hadn't bothered with make up. She looked at everyone there; Speedy, Aqualad, Mas, and Menos. "Alright everyone," she said, "let's see about getting back into shape. We're Titans, so let's tr to look like it."

Speedy glanced up. "WHat brought this on?" he asked, his eebrow quirked beneath his mask.

Jinx glared at him. "Cyborg managed to make us into a team. We owe it to his memory to stay one."

Aqualad looked up. "But...without Cyborg, how will we-"

Jinx interrupted. "I know we don't have much experience working as a team...so it's about time we learned. Cborg believed in us...he died for us!"

"Eso no es del todo cierto," Mas spoke up. ("That's not quite true.")

" l muri por ti," Menos continued. ("He died for you.")

"Then help me be worth it!" Jinx shouted out. "Help me prove that I was worth saving. Help me live up to his legacy." She looked down, shaking her head. "Help me to make us a team..."

The others looked at each other, then stood up as one. Speedy spoke up. "Then tell us what to do, Jinx. What are your orders?"

She looked up at them...and smiled. "First things first then...manuevers."

It was another two weeks later. Titans East had rallied, and under Jinx' leadership became an effective team. They had gone up against several strong villains, and had taken each and every one of them down.

One day, there was an alarm. A single villain had been seen downtown. "Titans! Let's go!" Jinx shouted, and they rushed to the scene.

On seeing the villain, Jinx was surprised. "Mammoth? WHat are you doing here?"

He nodded towards her. "Yo, Jinx. I heard you were a Titan now."

"That's not exactly news," she said quietly.

Mammoth cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Stone was a good guy...he was good for you. I...wasn't all that surprised - or upset - when he turned out to be Cyborg. He always did seem to be made of better stuff than your average villain."

Jinx nodded sadly. "Yeah. He was a great guy."

Mammoth came forward and laid a massive hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about what happened to him. I wish it didn't have to happen."

"Me too," Jinx whispered.

Mammoth nodded. "That's what I came to say. That and...I'm still your friend, Jinx."

Jinx looked up in shock. "But...the entire time I was at Hive, I was a double agent! THere to bring the place down!"

Mammoth shook his head. "I've never been too good at thinking my way through things. I was good at following orders, though. About the best I could do was choose to follow orders from someone who actually cared about how I felt about things. That's why I was happy we got assigned as a team. You cared. Most people didn't." Mammoth shrugged his shoulders. "What your reasons were for what you did...doesn't change the facts. You cared about how I felt...about what happened to me. You never left a man behind. As far as I can tell, that means you're still my friend." He turned to go. "I...don't really make a good villain."

Jinx smiled. "Then maybe you could try a different side?"

Mammoth turned...and saw Jinx holding a Titan communicator out to him. "You mean...?"

Jinx shook her head. "Mammoth, deep down, you've got a good heart. Nobody else at Hive ever payed for their candy bars." She chuckled. "I won't tell you to do this. This has to be your choice, and made for your sake."

Mammoth stared at the communicator for a time, thinking. Then he reached out and took it. "I choose my friend."

Jinx smiled. "Come one, then. Let's pick you out a room."

Back at the Tower, Mammoth found Jinx standing outside an empty room. "Jinx?"

"This was his room..."

Mammoth didn't need to ask. "You gonna be okay?"

"...I don't know...I just...miss him so much..." SHe was trying to hide it, but she was on the verge of tears.

Mammoth wrapped an arm around her. "It's okay...let it out. I won't let anyone see."

Leaning into Mammoth's chest, Jinx let her tears fall. 


	6. The Tinkerer

6. The Tinkerer

Out in space, a small ship coasted easily. On board, a strange looking alien played with his latest aquisition.

He - if you could call it that - was unique, as far as anyone knew. He had an amorphous body, and seemed to be in a constant state of flux. He had no name that anyone - even himself - knew of for certain. He had no past, no true memories. However, he judged no one. He simply existed, scavenging interesting devices from space detritus and reassembling them, often upgrading them in the process. He thoroughl enjoed this, and once he was finished with a project - unless he had immediate use for it - he would sell it to anone who wished to purchase. This tendency had earned him the nickname The Tinkerer, which he was rather fond of.

While he couldn't speak most civilized languages, he had a translator embeded in his body that gave him the meaning of what everyone around him was saying. This wasn't useful at the moment, as the only other occupant of his ship was his current project.

It was a fascinating specimen: a fusion of flesh and machine. It had been severely damaged when the Tinkerer had found it floating in space. Missing power core, severely damaged limbs, non-functional organic components...

However, the Tinkerer was nothing if not determined. He had replaced the power core with one much more advanced, repaired the damage to the limbs, and had managed to restore the organic components and was currently working on the CPU. Having discovered that this was meant to be some sort of weapon, he had incorporated several new combat upgrades, seeking to improve on initial design.

Although he was unable to make much sense of the meemory files retained in the CPU, he was able to isolate the presence of what seemed like an AI program. Since all the repairs were complete, he reinitialized it.

Suddenly the thing had hin pinned to a wall, weapons drawn. The thing spoke with vocalizations, and the Tinkerer realized it was a demand for information. Unable to vocalise back with any meaning, he directed the thing to the ship's computer.

The new cybernetic interface systems worked flawlessly, allowing the construct to access the ship's main computer core without needing any passwords, easily hacking through the most advanced security systems the galaxy had to offer.

The construct seemed pleased with what it discovered, and made its way to the hanger. Reachingthe outer doors, the construct activated the new protective coating, as well as the wing and rocket booster units, and...said something that didn't translate. Activating the new hyper-light booster, the construct was gone from sight.

The Tinkerer was able to determine that the construct had sought data regarding its time offline, the alterations to its systems, and spatial coordinates for a specific world before leaving. A blue world, the planet seemed quite pretty, but unlikely to have anything of interest to the Tinkerer. He wondered why the construct sought that place.

Attempting vocalizations, The Tinkerer tried to make sense of the last thing the construct had said.

"...boo...yah...?" the Tinkerer tasted the sounds, attempting to understand. 


	7. Returned From Beyond

7. Returned from Beyond

It was exactly two months after Cyborg's death. Things had been going well for the Titans East. The team had managed to hold off everything that came their way. Everything, that is, until today.

Four strange monsters suddenly appeared, mindless beasts from the depths of space. One was vaguely reptilian, and moved quite fast: Mas & Menos had taken on this one. Another was heavily armored, and moved quite slowly but deliberately: Speedy was taking on this one.

Aqualad had taken on the creature that had landed in the ocean, which seemed right at home in the water. This left Jinx and Mammoth to take on the one that landed downtown and spat acid. It was rather fast, and Mammoth had been hit by several blasts of acid, and Jinx had ordered him to get to a safe distance. Even so, he occasionaly threw a piece of masonry with deadly accuracy, distracting the thing at key moments when it was attacking Jinx.

Jinx, however, wasn't really happy with the arrangement. "Explain to me why - out of the four monsters - I'm the one who fights the thing out of a Lovecraft work with all the tentacles?" she said over the headset attatchment she had made for the communicators. THis way, they could coordinate attacks from distance without having their hands encumbered by the communicators.

A voice responded over the comms. "Because you're the girl."

There was silence over the comms for a time. "Speedy," Jinx commented tartly, "you just lost your internet priveleges."

"I told you it wasn't me who was visiting those Hentai sites!" Aqualad said over the comm. "Until it was brought up, I didn't even know what Hentai WAS!"

"Well what was she supposed to think?" Mammoth said then. "THere were pictures involving octopi and squid! And you're always talking about how fish are your friends."

"Not that kind of friend!"

Mas & Menos said something in Spanish that everyone was glad they couldn't understand.

"Well, right then-AAUGGH!" Jinx landed badly after that last throw by the creature's tentacle. THe acid had burned her legs through her costume. "Okay, time to take this seriously."

"Mine's down," Speedy said. "I'll be there after a quick stop at the tower, need to restock on arrows."

"Mine's down, too," Aqualad spoke up. "I'll be there to help soon, Jinx."

Mas and Menos reported their creature was down, but it would be some time before they could help.

"Great. I think I've got this covered for now," Jinx said, barely evading another tentacle grab. Suddenly she heard a rip and felt suddenly cold. Desperately, she covered herself. "Dammit! This thing just tore the top right off my costume!"

"I'll be right there!" Speedy said over the comms, a little too eagerly.

"DOn't you need to restock on arrows?" Aqualad asked.

Mas and Menos made some comments that really shouldn't be translated.

"Speedy, somehow I know this is all your fault-" She leaped back, covering her ears, as a high pitched whine filled the air.

A blue streak of light came down from the sky and impacted with the creature. A sonic boom shattered everything glass for a mile around. Mammoth pulled a huge chunk of Masonery over quickly, sheilding Jinx from the falling glass. They stared in awe at the figure that flipped backward from the creature, looking like some kind of futuristic space knight.

"Woah," Mammoth said. "Where'd the Tekkaman come from?"

Jinx flat eyed. "You've all been spending too much time with Beast Boy for those video game tournaments. YOu're turning into a bunch of Otakus."

"Says the girl who knows enough to use the word," Aqualad pipped up, having made it on the scene.

The mysterious figure - glowing with blue light - took a stance. Something popped out of its wrist, and landed in its hand. A blue-white blade ignited as it clutched the energy sword. As the creature reared upward again, the figure charged forward. There was a blue blur, and the creature started to fall to pieces.

Putting away its sword, the knight extended his left hand, and a weapon of some sort emerged from the mechanical body. There was a sudden jolt, and a sonic disruption blast incinerated the pieces of the creature as it tried to regenerate.

There was dead silence for a while, and then several armor plates on the knight slid back and into others. Beneath the armor plates, dark brown skin revealed itself as the figure turned. A familiar voice spoke.

"I'm only going to say this once...boo-yah!"

The Titans East stared for a time, and then Jinx was charging forward. SHe threw her arms around the man she thought she would never see again. "Cyborg!" she called out, tears of joy spilling from her eyes as she embraced him.

He enfolded her in his embrace, feeling the vibrancy of her body against his metal skin...actually FEELING her there. "Hey Jinx. I'm back."

And then neither of them could say anything else. THeir lips were too busy with something more productive. 


	8. Returning Home

8. Returning Home

Cyborg came in for a landing outside the Tower, strange and familiar. As he gazed up at the plave that still seemed like home to him, he remembered his reunion with the Titans East.

They had been so happy to see him. Aqualad, Speedy, Mas & Menos had eagerly welcomed him back...once he and Jinx had disentangled themselves. She had been very happy to see him again, and he was so happy to be holding her so close, to be with her again.

He had been surprised to see Mammoth there as a Titan, but pleasently so. He had talked with everyone for a long time, and many things were settled. He wasn't going to stay with Titans East. His home was Jump City. Jinx had done a good job as leader in Steel City, and as far as he was concerned, he wasn't gonna dislodge her. He was, however, going to persue the romantic relationship that had blossomed between them. And, while he was very happy to be in love and interested in some of the...non-combat related upgraded functions of his new chasis, he didn't think they were quite ready for the...overenthusiastic welcome Jinx had been ready to give him. After a while of talking, they had decided to wait.

After some fast talking, Cyborg had convinced the Titans East not to inform his friends in Jump City he was back. He wanted to see their faces when he showed up on their doorstep unanounced. When he'd explained this to Kinx and asked what had changed, she had just laughed wickedly.

"YOu'll see," she had said, laughing again.

He placed his hand on the tower door. His old security code would still open the door...but he could tell it would also set off the alarm. Deciding not to wake anyone as it was about 3 am, he circumvented all the security codes and alarms, entering silently. As he walked in, the unique metal of his chasis altered its specific molecular density and surface texture. His metal skin became as smooth as flesh, and his weight dropped from nearly a half ton to only 225 lbs.

He walked up to the mainfloor, where the bedrooms and common room were. He stopped by his room and glanced in. Looking at his recharging table, he shook his head. He wouldn't need that any more. His new power system could convert other energy sources - solar, wind, kinetic, even ambient - at a rate much higher than what his recharging table could do. He could almost reenergize faster by ordinary sleep and eating than this old table could do. aybe he could turn it into a bed. It would be nice to sleep on a bed again. Especially for when Jinx visited...when they were ready.

He chuckled a bit and walked on. Passing Beast Boy's room, he paused. He couldn't detect any life signs. Deciding to go with a deep scan, he discovered that, while someone had been in and out recently, the bed hadn't been slept in in over a week. On top of that, he could see it was made.

Curious, he continued fown the hall, and discovered similar conditions in Robin's room were the same. It was in use, but not lived in. Confused, he continued down to Starfire's room, worried about what he'd find.

He picked up three life signs here. He performed the same deep scan without thinking. Silkie was in his cradle, and Starfire was in her bed...and so was Robin! From what he could read of their energies, they had been...active recently. He chuckled to himself. Looks like those two finally stopped - as Star would say - bludgeoning the shrubbery.

Continuing on, he stopped at Raven's room when he detected multiple life signs inside. THe deep scan revealed Beast Boy and Raven on her bed. *What the?* Cyborg thought. *Raven's letting Beast Boy sleep in her bed? WHy the hell would...* Then he noticed something about their position. They weren't asleep just now. Eyes wide, Cyborg hurried down to the common room.

"What did I miss?" he asked allowed. "Robin and Star I can see, but...Beast Boy and Raven? Dude." He shook his head and chuckled. "I knew BB liked her, but I had no idea she returned his feelings. After Terra, I figured..." He shook his head. "Obviously, I figured wrong. I need to do something to show them I'm back." He stopped, then grinned. He began his preperations.

Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire, and Robin all awoke slowly the next morning. Getting up, they all slipped into their bathrobes and walked towards the common room. Hearing the sounds of electronic equipment active, they got into battle stances.

"We've got an intruder," RObin said. "Beast Boy, you take point. Raven, back him up with your magic. Star, get above. I'll head straight in. Titans, move!"

As they charged in through the door, Beast Boy saw the game console active and his new game running...just before his vision was eclipsed by something green and smelly.

"BOO-YAH!" a familiar voice shouted. "STANKBALL! I've missed that!"

Coming in, everyone stared. Cyborg smiled. "Come on guys, you act like you've just seen a ghost."

Beast Boy picked up the stank ball and stared at Cyborg. Then he threw it, and it caught Cyborg right in the head. He laughed.

With that confirmation that he was really there, everyone ran forward. Gratefully, he embraced his friends, his family. It was good to be home.

The Editor of TIme turns away from the screen and meets your eyes. "Well, that is all the story I have the time to cover. I may have all the time in the world, but there is much I have to do with it." He smiles. "But don't let that stop you from learning more on your own." He gestures to a spot on the wall next to the screen. "If you really wish to see more...just push that button." He smirks. "There is always more to tell." 


End file.
